The present invention relates generally to package and article carriers and, in particular, to carriers for ammunition.
Users of air rifles have always had a difficult time transporting ammunition in a manner where it can be quickly and easily be loaded for firing. Such ammunition often takes the form of small pellets that are difficult to grasp and manipulate. Furthermore, the pellets are usually housed in small boxes that must be opened and closed each time a pellet is loaded into an air riflexe2x80x94a time-consuming and noisy step that does, to its credit, prevent loss of, and damage to, pellets. For a hunter, however, a fraction of a second can often make the difference between taking an effective shot at a game animal or foregoing the shot altogether.
In light of the problems associated with the known products for carrying air rifle pellets, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an ammunition holder that secures a plurality of pellets to an air rifle in a manner where they can be readily grasped by a user and quietly loaded into an air rifle with the minimum of game-istracting motion. Use of the holder makes loading an air rifle a fast, quiet and motion-conserving operation. Fewer shots at game animals will, thus, be lost during use of the holder than had been the case in the past.
It is another object of the invention to provide an ammunition holder of the type described that can be secured to unmodified, air rifles of a variety of brands and styles. If desired, the ammunition holder may be carried upon the forearm or wrist of a user. Neither special tools nor training are required to secure and use the ammunition holder.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an ammunition holder that will retain pellets in a spaced-apart, easy-to-grasp relationship where they cannot scratch or otherwise cause damage to one another and an air rifle. While retained, pellets are isolated from dust and dirt.
It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an ammunition holder for the purposes described which is lightweight in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and dependable in use.
Briefly, the ammunition holder in accordance with this invention achieves the intended objects by featuring a base plate having a convex front surface and a concave rear surface and pair of slots at its top and its bottom. A strap extends through the slots and outwardly from the base plate. The strap has hook-and-loop fasteners attached to its opposed ends so that it can be selectively formed into a band. A resilient block is affixed to the front surface of the base plate. The block has a plurality of apertures that are sized to snugly receive a piece of ammunition and that terminate at the front surface of the base plate. The block, being of constant thickness, has a convex front surface that is parallel to the front surface of the base plate.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.